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xx PREFACE the assessment and control of those environmental factors that can potentially affect health. It is targeted towards preventing disease and creating health-supportive envi- ronments. This defi nition excludes behaviour not related to environment, as well as behaviour related to the social and cultural environment, and genetics. We expanded upon this defi nition in several ways. For example, we included sev- eral relevant social and societal concerns, such as children’s environmental health, e-cigarettes, environmental justice, health implications of population trends, so- cioeconomic status and health, and secondhand and thirdhand tobacco smoke. We also added natural disasters, such as earthquakes and hurricanes, because these events sometimes are accompanied by the spread of disease, and cleanup often presents environmental health hazards. Several topics related to genetics (epigenetics, genetic engineering and GMOs, and toxicogenomics) were included, as were biographical sketches of important fi gures in the fi eld and descriptions of several environmental disasters that led to new environmental activism and legisla- tion. Green buildings, renewable energy, and energy effi ciency were added because they help reduce climate change-causing gases, and we addressed recycling and waste management topics because of their role in reducing environmental toxi- cants in the environment. We gave careful consideration to which human diseases to cover, eventually arriving at a list of the more common infectious and communicable diseases that are transmitted by agents in the environment, for example, mosquitoes, ticks, and fl eas. Thus, we added entries on bubonic plague, cholera, Ebola virus, Escherichia coli infection, Guinea worm disease, Lyme disease, lymphatic fi lariasis, malaria, norovirus infection, river blindness, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, schistosomi- asis, tetanus infection, trachoma, West Nile virus, yellow fever, and Zika virus. To go beyond this list would have entailed adding many entries more appropri- ate for a treatise on public health than environmental health. In addition to spe- cifi c diseases and viruses, entries address communicable, foodborne, infectious, insect-borne, waterborne, and zoonotic diseases. Healthcare-associated infections, Legionnaires’ disease, and sick building syndrome are also covered. Environmental Health Topic Areas Each entry in the text includes at least one icon representing one of fi ve topic areas: environmental pollution, health sciences, energy and climate, waste management, and the built environment. For entries that cross over topic areas, more than one icon is included. For example, the entry on hazardous air pollutants involves not only pollution but also health sciences research on toxic health effects. Thus, the entry includes icons for both environmental pollution and health sciences. Here is what each icon means: Environmental pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the environ- ment that have the potential to threaten the health of humans and endanger all the diverse forms of life found in our biosphere. We often think of environmental con- taminants as toxic chemicals from manufacturing operations, but the defi nition